As awful as that picture is of Michelle Obama in shorts getting off Air Force One, I'm willing to cut her some slack here as she was on vacation.

There are two other pictures of her that were really much worse.

The First Lady at two official functions

On Sept. 17 she arrived hand in hand (couldn't they have walked in like a regular couple and not like two teens hanging onto one another?) with the President, he dressed in a dark suit and she in a sleeveless V- necked dress with gaudy huge red flowers splashed all over it!! She looked so out of place and disrespectful as this was a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House for a U.S. Army Sergeant. Everyone else was dressed fit for the occasion.

Then, she showed up at the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh for a dinner party in a spaghetti strapped sundress!! In late September!! With the whole world watching!!

Doesn't this woman own a lovely suit so she doesn't stick out like a sore thumb?

God have mercy on this country and deliver us from evil.

T.W.

Attacks against TIA

Dear TIA,

I am not surprised by the new and very personal attacks on TIA by this poor fellow who started his own blog a couple months ago and has nothing to post but diatribes against you. He has no team members, he has no bio. I learned that anyone can get a free blogsite and start bashing people.

This is the problem with blogs. They are a waste of time. They pamper our vanity and make us think we're special. "The whole world is reading my words," each 'blogger' appears to think. Everyone is a self-proclaimed pundit; everyone with an opinion can cybergripe. But, these Catholics forget Charity in their zeal for feeding the masses their personal views. Sometimes they forget to proofread what they consider to be amazing perspectives. Always, they are a waste of time and a temptation to pride.

Thank you for your classy, scholarly, educational and charitable website. You are a refuge of real help against the insanity in our world, our Church, and our culture. With Our Lady's help and Her promises, we will stand firm against the culture of death that envelopes us.

In Maria,

K.C.

Fr. Ratzinger's Suspect Thesis

TIA,

I really appreciated the article on the Modernism of Fr. Joseph Ratzinger, regarding his doctoral thesis concerning Revelation. His writing, which as you indicated, was rejected because of his reading into St. Bonaventure's concept of Revelation an understanding that he [the Saint] himself would reject too. Down through the years, however, Ratzinger has said time and again that he still disagrees with the action taken against his original conclusion.

Fr. Ratzinger wrote that the Saint understood the Church as a revealing church concerning revelation, as opposed to a Church that revealed what had been revealed and that this stopped with the death of the last Apostle, so new revelation need be sought or expected.

With the death of the last Apostle, Revelation - as the church has always held - ceased at that point; the modernists believe revelation is evolving. Consequently, the true Church never existed and is not here, but it is on the way. This church will have no dogma except one - respect all religious belief and don't under any circumstance point out where a false religion is false. Human respect and personal dignity will supercede what one believes or does not believe.

Ven. Mother Marriana de Jesus Torres, Pray for Us

S.M.

Should a Priest Be Addressed by His First Name?

TIA,

As someone who was born, raised, educated and married before the Day of Infamy (1st Sunday of Advent, 1969), I found this article most instructive.

I deal quite a bit with religious individuals of all types but I will reserve most of my comments to priests. As you mentioned, before 1969, I never ever even dreamed of addressing a priest by his first name. To have done so in high school would have probably meant detention. I doubt if I even knew their first names.

My attempts to maintain that formality in the current state of the Church have met with varying degrees of success. Generally the older priests accept the last name because that is what they are accustomed to. The Vatican II ordained priests try to talk you out of using their last name.

True Story - a priest and I actually had a five minute discussion in the Seattle airport on whether I should address him by his first or last name. We compromised - I call him Father. Whenever I see him, I emphasize the Father to make sure he knows I do not wish to be too familiar.

I have known more than a few brothers that have become priests and while I addressed them by their first name while they were brothers, as soon as they were ordained, I switched to the last name.

There have been exceptions. I know three priests that have rather difficult last names to pronounce and while I address them as Father without the last name, I use their first name when I am speaking to others about them.

Saddest of all, when I talk to a child about a priest and I use his last name, the reaction is usually 'Who?' Then I have to use his first name, sad but true.

Since my interaction with sisters is almost nonexistent except when I travel overseas, I get away with Sister. When overseas, I call them what they tell me to call them since I will not see them that long and do not wish to appear to be nosy about their personal lives. Most of them are much younger than I am and I believe it is best to maintain my distance.

H.V.

Joliet Diocese New Saint

TIA,

From time to time I'm provided with various Church bulletins from the local New Church Diocese of Joliet. For all those who maintain "life is getting better" for the Catholic in the Joliet Diocese (because of a few Motu "Masses" allowed here or there), you'll need to check the theological minds behind such "Masses."

Here is an example of the latest theological lunacy from the "Catholic" St. Mary Immaculate Parish in Plainfield. Fr. David Medows is a "convert" from Lutheranism who was "ordained" by spurious Joseph Imesch, the retired extra-ordinary "bishop" of Joliet:

In the July 26, 2009 Bulletin we read in "Reflections from Fr. David" an entire glowing review (including a picture with "saintly" pose) of one Walter Cronkite. We are told that Walter was an "important figure in American life." Why that is, we don't know... Why a "Catholic" Church bulletin needs to have an entire page dedicated to this man? We don't know...

The Bulletin ends with this fond farewell: "God bless Walter Cronkite. May he rest in peace and PRAY FOR US, and for a better informed human race."

As I understood it, Walter Cronkite was "pro-choice" (no choice for the unborn of course). and that in fact he was a member of the Protestant Episcopal sect. How did this man get "sainted" by new-priest Medows? What miracles took place as regards this instant canonization? How does a pro-abortion/non-Catholic get a free ride into the kingdom of Heaven? Is Pope Benedict on track with this call for canonization?

Some conservatives of course would rejoice if Rev. Medows "offered" a "Latin Mass." Medows is a mild heretic, compared to most. In fact, his Lutheran background might make him just a touch more "orthodox" than most Joliet Diocesan clergy! Who has really left the Church?

F.B.

Posted October 13, 2009

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do not necessarily express those of TIA